Giant Electric Twist 2012 Charging problem

[Dave Byrne]

Hi Guys Im new to the forum my names Dave and bought an electric bike last year

I couldn't use it for the past 12 months as the key to the rear where you need the key to remove the battery to charge it was lost so got the lock replaced in my local Giant Dealership.

I can now charge the battery but the problem Im having is that when I plug the charger into the battery the charger is flashing red and I have left it over night and put the battery back into the bike and no luck no power what's so ever to even turn on the front on button with the three modes?

Any advice folks please I really want to get out on this bike have only been on it max of 10 times so far

Thanks for any help
Dave

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can only solve your problem with a voltmeter. Measure the voltage on the main battery terminals and at the charge socket. Could you post a picture so that we can see which battery you have?

 

[Dave Byrne]

Hi I don't think it's charging I'll post pictures up now it's only a normal battery which comes with the originally with the 2012 model.

 

[Dave Byrne]

Hi is it to check when the battery is on charge to check the end of the battery terminals and the charger or what do I check? Thanks

 

[Deleted member 4366]

As I said, you can't do anything without a voltmeter.

The first thing to check is the voltage at the battery terminals, then the charger plug, then the charger socket in the battery. Those three readings should give a good idea of where the problem is.

 

[Dave Byrne]

Hi my dealer has checked the battery out and it needs a new one and it's over €380 he rang Giant and they said over €500 he's doing it at cost price do you have any idea if it can be repaired I don't really have €380 to spend on a battery, Thanks for your help regarding this

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Do you know how he came to that conclusion? What type of battery is it? A photo would help.

 

[Mairi M]

I have had exactly the same problem with mine. Giant twist bought in February 2012. Battery will no longer charge. Unfortunately those batteries only had a 1 year warranty whereas last year's bikes had 2 year. I think your problem may be partly that you left it for 12 months - it does say in the instructions that you have to charge it regularly - can't remember the interval it says. I had hardly used mine either - I don't think it's worth buying a new battery at that price as there's now no Giant dealer within 250 miles of me if anything else goes wrong. There was one 12 miles away when I got the bike. I think it's just been a bad lot - and giant seem to keep changing the models which makes me think they are still experimenting. I'm a pensioner so none too thrilled about this waste of money.

 

[Mairi M]

Can you post the pics so that I can see if it's the same type as mine.

 

[Dave Byrne]

Hi basically what the dealer said was that he feels it's the battery and rang Giant and he's doing it at cost price after I told him it was to expensive and I gave him €1.5k for the bike in 2012. Im going to test it with a multimeter as it could be the charger at fault.

Is it possible to get this repaired it's so expensive this battery.

Thanks guys

 

[Mairi M]

Hi basically what the dealer said was that he feels it's the battery and rang Giant and he's doing it at cost price after I told him it was to expensive and I gave him €1.5k for the bike in 2012. Im going to test it with a multimeter as it could be the charger at fault.

Is it possible to get this repaired it's so expensive this battery.

Thanks guys

Yep. Same as mine. Giant had the best reviews when I bought the bike - no longer the case. Wish I'd never heard of them.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Hi basically what the dealer said was that he feels it's the battery and rang Giant and he's doing it at cost price after I told him it was to expensive and I gave him €1.5k for the bike in 2012. Im going to test it with a multimeter as it could be the charger at fault.

Is it possible to get this repaired it's so expensive this battery.

Thanks guys

Unfortunately, None of that info helps me. Can I see the battery actually on the bike. or a link to the exact same bike as yours. What voltage is the charger. It should be written on the under-side.

There's these ones, which are probably what you've got. They work out at about £180 to £190 including delivery and duty. The 24v one is less.

http://www.bmsbattery.com/battery-pack/500-giant-ebike-battery.html

You can use any battery you want. It doesn't have to be a Giant one. You just have to use a bit of imagination to fix it to your bike and wire it to your controller.

Your dealer must be some repair man if he can tell what's wrong with the battery just by feeling it. Normally, you have to measure the voltage and things like that.

So, you want to gamble hundreds of pounds because of his feelings. My first question would have been, "What's wrong with the battery?"

 

[flecc]

That's one of Giant's pannier batteries, used singly or in pairs on all the Twist models from late 2007 on. The prices have never been competitive, £300 each in 2007.

If you use another battery instead it will need it's charge socket changed if necessary to match your charger plug. It looks like a 4 pin XLR, and this link shows one.
.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The BMSB battery comes with a charger and its own charge socket and lead.

 

[Dave Byrne]

Hi guys thanks for all of that, the bike is a 2012

mode:http://pedelectric.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/2013_giant_twist_express_w.jpg

Would you think the cheapest option is to get the correct battery from America for this so the bike wouldn't need to be altered in anyway or could the bike be altered to fit a new battery into it? What would be the most cost effective option here?

Or is there any service to repair the battery back to working order.

Im going to pick up the battery and the charger and test both of them with the vault meter.

Thanks

 

[Mairi M]

Hi guys thanks for all of that, the bike is a 2012

mode:http://pedelectric.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/2013_giant_twist_express_w.jpg

Would you think the cheapest option is to get the correct battery from America for this so the bike wouldn't need to be altered in anyway or could the bike be altered to fit a new battery into it? What would be the most cost effective option here?

Or is there any service to repair the battery back to working order.

Im going to pick up the battery and the charger and test both of them with the vault meter.

Thanks

Spoke to people at an e bike display today and they said they might be able to recharge the battery by piggy-backing it on another. I have to take it to their store in Edinburgh.

 

[Dave Byrne]

Hi Mari, can you please clarify on what you mean do you mean they fit a new battery into the case and set it all up?

Thanks

 

[Mairi M]

Hi Mari, can you please clarify on what you mean do you mean they fit a new battery into the case and set it all up?

Thanks

No, they thought they might be able to use another battery to bring mine back to life. It is a company from Edinburgh who had a stand at my local Farmers' market. They even said they might take my bike in part exchange if they got it fixed which would be great, as I have rather lost faith in Giant. I can' t do anything about it immediately. As the local Giant dealer had closed, I sent the battery down to the dealer in London Docklands, as I thought it would be easier to retrieve it than sending it to another dealer (my son works on Canary Wharf). Anyway, I need to wait until next time my son is coming up here (Aberdeenshire) by sleeper. I will then have to take the battery to Edinburgh on the train. I will keep you posted. Or you could phone them and get them to explain.
http://www.edinburghcyclecompany.com/electric-bikes/
The people I spoke to emphasised the need to look after the battery - only in the small print in the Giant instructions. :-(
It does need to be charged every 3 months at least. And it shouldn't be left permanently charging either - which I find a pain, as inevitably it's going to be out of charge when I want to use it, especially in winter when we can have days or weeks of bad weather.